Chapter 5: The Luna Selection

Sadie’s POV

The next day, excited whispers rippled through the maid’s quarters. Immediately after Luna Emma demoted me, I was brought down to the maid’s quarters. It had only been a day, but I was trying to adjust to my new life as a maid. I’d been put to work right away scrubbing toilets. It was hard work, much harder than anything I was used to.

We were given the morning off though because the Lycan Prince was due to arrive any moment. The maids gushed to one another, starry-eyed, hopeful that maybe, just maybe, one of them would be selected.

I wanted no part of it though. So I sat on my tiny bed and tried to ignore all the excitement. Just then, a maid burst through the doors.

“The Lycan Prince has arrived!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly.

The room exploded into a wave of giggles. And then they all rushed out of the room like little school girls.

I stayed behind.

“Come on,” Celeste said, standing at the door. “You have to come.”

Celeste was the only maid who had been nice to me. All the others loathed me. They mocked me.         

“Poor little princess has to scrub the shit out of her sister’s toilet,” they teased. They detested me because I’d once been royalty. I was ostracized.  

“I don’t want to go,” I told Celeste.

What was the point? Why should I go to the Luna Selection. I’d been disqualified. And the last thing I wanted to see was Delphine parade around in a beautiful dress while I sat by in this itchy maid uniform.

It was too painful.

“Of course you do,” Celeste smiled. “Everyone’s going. You included.”

Then she grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door.

We arrived at the square and huddled in with all the other maids. The square had been decorated with ornate flowers in honor of the Prince’s visit.

Delphine strut across the square, surrounded by other young she-wolves. They were all dressed to the nines, but Delphine’s dress was the most superb. Shimmering silk and lovely tulle; she really was a vision.

They all had a special seat right up at the front.

My heart hurt as I watched her laugh excitedly with the other she-wolves. Just yesterday, that was my life, too. Now I was sequestered to the corner of the square with all the other maids and servants.

Just then, the crowd gasped.

Prince Griffin appeared, and he was everything he promised to be: tall, dark, handsome, muscular, and impeccably dressed. All around us, she-wolves were mesmerized by him.

The Prince’s Beta stepped up. All eyes locked onto him.

“Hello and welcome,” the Beta said, addressing the crowd. “We’re pleased to see so many beautiful she-wolves eager to enter the Luna Selection. Now, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, all she-wolves entering the Luna Selection must undergo an ancient ritual.”

Everyone nodded. Our pack had already heard all the rumors about this ritual.

“To my left, you’ll see a stone slab,” the Beta pointed out. The slab was dark and mysterious. It had a strange aura about it. Everyone turned to look. It was a deep blue and gave off an almost hypnotic essence.   

“What is that made of?” Celeste whispered beside me. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Beats me,” I shrugged. I was annoyed that Celeste had dragged me here and I wasn’t overly invested in the selection.

“Maids will go first,” Delphine declared.

The maids looked anxiously at one another. No one was really sure what would happen when a she-wolf touched the slab, so Delphine was clearly using the maids first to see what the slab was all about.

“You.” Delphine pointed to a young, timid maid. She nervously approached the strange slab. Everyone watched with breath held. She slowly reached out and placed her hand on the slab.

The square fell completely silent.

But nothing happened.

“Step aside,” the Prince’s Beta instructed.

That was all he said, but it was clear the maid hadn’t qualified as the Lycan Prince’s Luna.

Thoughts swirled through my mind. What was that slab? Where did it come from? What secrets did the slab hold?

And what exactly was required to pass the ritual?  

The maid scurried back to the group, her head hung low. Delphine pointed at another maid. She didn’t pass either.

One by one, all the maids touched the slab. And one by one, they all failed.  

The selection process moved on to the she-wolves of a higher status. They each stepped up to the slab and nervously placed their shaky hands on the strange, blue slab.

None of them passed though. The slab remained as was.

Finally, it was Delphine’s turn. With a bright smile, she stepped forward, exuding confidence. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the slab.

At first, nothing happened. But moments later, a large murder of crows appeared overhead.

They cawed loudly, a mournful sound as they circled above Delphine.

It was the oddest thing, as though they’d appeared out of nowhere. All eyes turned to the sky.  

“It’s a sign!” someone gasped.

“It has to be!” someone else hollered, pointing up at the sky. “Look at all those crows! It’s an omen! Delphine is the chosen one!”